The best cat litter

Newly married, Martin and I bought a house. He moved in first, and I emigrated from Brazil three months later with my two cats, Gaijin and Phoenix.

When we arrived, Martin had already purchased a litter box, litter and food for the cats. Life felt good with my attentive husband taking care of us during such a stressful time.

CLAY

Fresh Step Scoopable Cat Litter

Martin had bought the first box of litter he saw at the store — Fresh Step. It had a strong smell of deodorizer, produced enormous clouds of dust, left dust tracks around the house and was extremely heavy. But we were satisfied with it. I was used to buying pet products in Brazil, where buying cat litter meant buying whatever brand was available in the store without thinking much about the its features. After all, there was generally one product to buy. (Today fortunately things are different.)

Also, I really liked the clumping feature, something I had never seen before. I scooped and cleaned diligently. Martin, who has a very good nose, was pleased that the litter box never smelled of pee.

In 2008, when I began researching the pet market to launch this blog, I came across an article about the possible health hazards of clay cat litter to humans and other animals. Clay cat litter contains silica, an extremely thin dust that may cause complications to our lungs when inhaled.

When you scoop the box or your cat digs in clay litter, a dust cloud rises. The more you inhale it, the worse it is for your health. That’s when I started my search for a better cat litter. Less toxic was now high in my priority, even before clumping and smell.

PINE

Nature’s Earth Feline Pine Clumping Cat Litter

The first one I tried was Nature’s Earth Feline Pine Clumping Litter. I liked the fresh scent of wood in my home when I poured the litter into the box.

Pine litter is way lighter than clay litter, so it was also much easier to carry. It clumped fairly well, though the clumps were less firm than clay. I had to be careful not to crumble them when I scooped, but I could live with that.

Unfortunately, the tiny pieces of pine were very light. It tracked a lot, and when I scooped and sifted, the pee clumps sometimes went flying, leaving me with a mess to clean up. Also, Nature’s Earth didn’t trap the odors well no matter how often I scooped. Even when we thought the box was clean, we could smell pee.

Scoopable Feline Fresh Pine Cat Litter

Then a friend recommended Feline Fresh Pine Cat Litter. It clumped well, even though the clumps were still more fragile than clay, and trapped the odor a bit better than Nature’s Earth. But in less than a week, the pee smell was back and strong. I started changing and disinfecting the box every week (instead of every other week) but we would still smell pee.

With four litter boxes for our three cats, I wasn’t very happy with all the extra work, expense and waste.

CORN

Nature’s Miracle Odor Control Clumping Cat Litter

Next, I tried Nature’s Miracle Odor Control Clumping Cat Litter.

Corn litter was not as light as pine, so it was heavier to carry but much easier to scoop. Like pine, it didn’t raise dust, and the clumps were more solid than pine.

It also trapped the odor better than the pine brands, so I switched to corn.

In less than two weeks, though, the pee smell would be back, even in perfectly scooped litter (something I could get away with it using clay litter). I started changing and disinfecting the contents of the box every week or two to control the odor.

(Nature’s Miracle never answered my e-mail asking about the safety of the product they sell regarding Alfatoxin and genetically modified corn.)

World’s Best Cat Litter

Still not satisfied, I emailed Moderncat (Now Hauspanther) blogger, Kate, who had seven cats. She recommended World’s Best Cat Litter, and off I went to the store.

Again, the bags were heavier than the pine litter ones. I dumped the new litter into my four boxes (I bought the multicat formula). The smell was peculiar, but not offensive.

The litter clumped surprisingly well (way better than Nature’s Miracle) and was easier to scoop than pine. The downside was a bit of corn dust that didn’t fly around when I scooped, but left a track of paw prints. I had the feeling, though, that this finely crushed corn was what was making the litter clump so tightly and well.

To my delight, the boxes never smelled.

After I posted this review, a concern about corn litter safety was raised (see comments), since there’s a possibility of aflatoxin contamination in corn-based and wheat-based litters.

Aflatoxin risk?

Aflatoxins are produced by many species of the fungus Aspergillus. Aflatoxins are toxic and among the most carcinogenic substances known.

Aflatoxins are common and widespread in nature. They can colonize and contaminate grain (such as corn and wheat) before harvest or during storage. The native habitat of Aspergillus is in soil, decaying vegetation, hay, and grains undergoing microbiological deterioration, and it invades all types of organic substrates whenever conditions are favorable for its growth. Favorable conditions include high moisture content (at least 7%) and high temperature.

World’s Best said thetests the company performs on their litter specifically check for mold, including aflatoxins and Aspergillus. And, according to the company, there is no need to replace the cat litter weekly, as I suggested in my letter to them, if you regularly maintain the litter box.

“If wastes are removed daily,” the letter addressed to me stated, “the remaining litter in the box should be clean and ready to reuse, given normal, reasonable litter box maintenance practices.”

I understand there is a risk of fungus growing in any environment with a combination of grain and moisture. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any research results on the incidence of aflatoxin in cat litter. I believe there are none available to the public, if any. Please let me know if you have heard of any.

The fact that the subject hasn’t been studied doesn’t mean the problem doesn’t exist. We should choose products conscious of the risks they bring with them. I am convinced there is a risk of aflatoxin contamination in corn and wheat cat litter. I believe, though, that the risk may be very low if the box is cleaned regularly and kept in a cool, ventilated place.

Another issue with World’s Best and with any other litter made of food products, like corn and wheat, is that they are subject to getting contaminated with bugs. Twice (in probably 5 years) I got bags of WBCL with some very slow-moving microscopic bugs. I cleaned everything quickly and got rid of them with no further problems. So, I recommend you always seal any corn litter you store in a hard plastic container and keep an close eye one the litter you pour.

WHEAT

Swheat Scoop

I also tried wheat. As the corn litter bags, the wheat litter bags were heavier than pine. When I dumped the litter into the box, a good surprise — no smell. The litter also clumped surprisingly well and was easy to scoop.

I had no dust coming out of the box and witnessed the same amount of tracking seen in any thin litter. Another great feature: Swheat Scoop was less expensive than World’s Best and had a slightly more pleasant aspect. The litter had some lighter particles that made it look better than the plain beige World’s Best litter.

But the litter began smelling if I didn’t dump the entire box contents every week and disinfected the box. I also found out that scooping was extremely difficult if I didn’t do it immediately. Some clumps became glued to the bottom, and it was quite a workout to detach them (they broke in the process, too). But the worst part is that my dogs Geppetto and Lola loved the taste of the wheat litter, ate half a litter box twice and developed horrible diarrhea.

The manufacturer states that no chemicals or fragrances are added to this litter – wheat enzymes naturally eliminate the odors. The package also says it’s biodegradable and flushable. My dogs were fine after a few days, so I guess these features are fully tested and approved. :-) Unfortunately, I couldn’t barricade all the boxes in the house, and I wasn’t that happy about the clumping feature anyways.

PELLETS

PAPER – Yesterday’s News

I then moved on to test other cat litters that my readers suggested. I tested Yesterday’s News cat litter (unscented, scented, hard and soft). I loved the idea of using a cat litter which 70% is recycled paper (I am sure fungus can grow anywhere, even in paper). The product is very absorbent and not dusty. But it doesn’t clump and it’s made of big dark green granules which made it difficult to see and consequently remove poops — the dark color blends with feces.

Also, it was very hard to scoop without sending along to the trash a lot of clean cat litter. In a week the box needed to be totally changed, and it was a heavy product to haul around in a trash bag.

The tracking is really low, but I could still see pellets scattered around the box after my cat Gaijin visited it. They fly off when she jumps out of the box. My 3 cats testing Yesterday’s News refused to use the hard pellets. They could only tolerate the soft pellets on their paws. We had no problems with the scented pellets.

CLAY – Tidy Cats Breeze System

Since the Breeze litter system had such great reviews at Amazon.com, I decided to test it as well. I thought the pellets would be safe health wise, but they don’t seem to be, according to research. The pellets, made of zeolite, the same materials used to produce non-clumping cat litter, release a small dust cloud when poured into the box, and leave a dust residue behind when touched. That means my cats and us all were breathe it. It has been pointed out by scientific studies that exposure to zeolite dust can cause cancer. My cats would not only breathe zeolite dust, but also ingest it when they groom themselves. Hm.

When new, the Breeze system is very pleasant looking. But once cats start pooping on it, some pellets get stained, which makes it look always dirty.

The absorbent pee pads that go on the lower litter box compartment are said to last a week in terms of capacity to hold pee and its smell for one cat. After 4 or 5 days it would start to smell already. Then we were supposed to change the pellets every month, according to instructions. But in two weeks the box was smelling pretty badly, because pee got trapped in the upper tray grid, and I needed to remove all the litter way sooner to be able to tolerate it. I tried spraying enzymatic sprays, which made it better but didn’t hol the box for a month, and also filled the absorbing pads underneath way earlier (I was dumping more liquid into the box).

The system, as indicated, is already an expensive investment (you need to buy the box, and then keep on buying the pellets and pads). Since I needed to change pads and litter earlier than described, the system turned out to be quite expensive overall.

PINE – Feline Pine Pellets

Since I was already testing a pellet litter, I thought, why not test all the pellets I could find? So I got a bag of Feline Pine. The smell is wonderful and the overall aspect very pleasant.. But three of my cats refused to use it because the pellets were too hard on their paws, like the hard version of Yesterday’s News.

My cat Gaijin, who has the run of part of the house just for herself (therefore her own litter box), loved it. So depending on the cat, you might have a successful transition to pellets or not.

I, however, would recommend you to use Feline Pine pellets only with All Pine Self-Cleaning Litter Box. It is a neat invention that makes the whole litter box cleaning a breeze. The box has two trays. You pour the pellets into the upper tray, and as they dissolve into sawdust in contact with pee, they fall into the lower tray. You can clean the lower tray as often as you like.

Tip: Always place some pellets in the lower tray as well, so any wetness from cat pee will be absorbed and no smell will come out of it.

RESULTS (Updated in April, 2013)

We are now back to using World’s Best and Feline Pine pellets on an All Pine Self-Cleaning litter box. We are also testing the Cat Genie, which is a self-cleaning litter box attached to the water supply.

If you are looking for the best cat litter for you, pick a product according to your priorities (see the table below). My priorities from most important to less important, are health safety, odor-trapping capacity, solidity of clumps, weight, dust and scoopability. Good luck!

*

Comparative chart

Fresh Step

Feline Pine

Feline Fresh

Nature’s Miracle

World’s Best (multicat)

Swheat Scoop

Yesterday’s News

Material

Clay

Pine

Pine

Corn

Corn

Wheat

Recycled paper

Health safety

Contains silica(toxic to humans and other animals)

No silica

No silicaPossible (low) risk of Aflatoxin

No silicaPossible (low) risk of Aflatoxin

No silicaPossible (low) risk of Aflatoxin

No silicaPossible (low) risk of Aflatoxin

No silicaSafe if ingested but not digestible

Odor-trapping

Excellent

Weak

Weak

Weak

Excellent

Weak

Excellent until you change the box

Solidity of clumps

Excellent

OK

OK

Very good

Excellent

Excellent

Doesn’t clump

Weight

Very heavy

Very light

Very light

Heavy

Heavy

Heavy

Very heavy

Dust

Yes, a lot

No

No

No

Some

No

No

Tracking

Very high

Very high

Very high

High

High

High

Low

Scoopability

Very easy

Hard

Hard

Easy

Very easy

Hard

Very hard

Scent

Funky, strong artificial

Pleasant natural wood

Pleasant natural wood

No

Peculiar, not offensive

No

No

Flushable

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Price per pound (estimate)

$0.64

$0.75

$0.71

$1.00

$1.40

$1.07

$0.73

I bought all these cat litter brands myself. World’s Best sent me a small bag of litter as a freebie months ago, way after we began using the product. If you want me to test your cat litter or any other pet product, read our section About for details.

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Anibal

It is made of cassava.

askfisher

Thank you for doing all this for us cats! Great job and a lot of effort on your part is going to help us all.

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Thank you, for making our lives better! :-)

Candace

I have been using World’s Best now for about 6 months. I have 3 cats in a small home…NO ODOR! I clean twice daily and change the box every two weeks! It is the very best litter I have ever used.

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Yeah, I like it a lot too. It does, though, track quite a lot, right?

Lpolynn

You could try contacting Cornell University Veterinary School or Texas A&M Veterinary School about the possibility of aflatoxin contamination in corn-based and wheat-based litters. They are very knowledgeable and do a lot of research.

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Great idea. Thanks Lpolynn!

Catmother5803

Daniela, Having a total of 9 cats in our house, this topic is VERY interesting & important to me. One thing I’ve been wondering about for a while now, however, is a seemingly big contradiction with flushable clumping litters. How can a product clump well, and still be flushable? I can see using it in the garden as compost, but would really be afraid to dump it in the toilet. Do you just flush small amounts at a time? Have you, or any other readers ever had plumbing issues because of this? Right now, I haul in 200 lbs of clay litter monthly — I could do almost anything to lighten that load.

http://www.thedailytail.com Daniela Caride

Hi Catmother, thank you for such an interesting point. Wood- and corn-based cat litter are healthier and greener alternatives to clay because they are biodegradable and flushable. Wood and corn won’t gunk up your pipes like clay litter might, but flushing feces may put wildlife at risk, causing infection and death of all kinds of sea life.

Toxoplasma gondii is a dangerous parasite. Cats that come in contact with infected birds and mice carry the disease, and infection rates for outdoor cats are high. Your cats may even be indoors now, but may have gotten infected before you adopted them. Toxoplasma is resilient, and typical water purification plants won’t destroy them.

Researchers are still determining the extent of toxoplasma’s deadly nature, but sea otters appear to be vulnerable. In many parts of California it is prohibited to flush cat litter down the toilet.

I strongly recommend you have your cats tested for toxoplasmosis before you start flushing their poop. Talk to your vet. Maybe you just have to test a sample poop from a litter box to know if any of your cats carry the Toxoplasma. If you want to be on the safe side, change your cat litter for a corn or wood based one that clumps, even if you don’t flush it. You and your cats will be much healthier. The dust from clay is very toxic to humans and other animals.

Shalat

From March 6 through May 5, you can receive a rebate for the purchase of World’s Best Litter Clumping Litter or Multiple Cat Clumping Formula (7 or 8 lb. bag). Just go here:

Cats have existed for countless years using the Great Outdoors as their litter box. They eliminate in leaf piles, wood sawdust, everyday dirt, roadside gravel, you name it. And as any dairy farmer can tell you, there is no dearth of cats around the barn (although there you will find dried feces dust, hay dust, grain dust, dirt dust, etc.)

So after your analysis, what do you suggest? Clay? but there is dust. Corn? but there is fungus. Shall we put little particle masks on the cats? You know how well that’ll go over.

Then again, there is mercury in tuna, hormones in chicken and beef, cat’s shouldn’t have dairy. Cat’s are designed to get their moisture needs from meat or canned food, but don’t forget to put out fresh water for them.

If I didn’t love their companionship, I think I’d give up having them in the house.

http://www.thedailytail.com Daniela Caride

Hi Kate, I don’t see the presence of cats as the source of the problem, nor I see giving them up as something that would make the world safer. The industrialization process is the one tainting the food and contaminating the environment in great proportions. If we produced only what we need, things would be much better. The contamination of rivers with mercury, hormones in chicken that you mention are all a result of trying to produce enormous amounts of food at a low cost. And much of it goes to waist.

But that’s a long talk. Going back to the litter, I would not recommend clay in any circumstance. Clay has silica. Period. It will get into your lungs and your cat’s lungs if you breath near it – and that’s something we cannot avoid. And as you mention, wearing masks is not an option. And you don’t have to wear masks. Just don’t buy clay.

Corn may develop fungus, yes, but only if you don’t take care of the litter box properly and make a big mess of it. The chances of developing aspergillus, according to what a few veterinarians told me, seem to be extremely low if you are a responsible cat owner.

Debra

Hi Daniela,

I enjoyed reading this article. I used World’s best for quite a while and loved it, but then turned to using chicken feed! Mostly corn and enriched with vitamins, it performs identically to World’s Best.

I use an un-medicated chick starter. It can also be called meat bird or game bird feed. Food is sold in pellet form or crushed into “crumbles” resembling litter. I have used pellets. No tracking, but hard to scoop so I normally get the crumbles.

PLUS at $15-$20 for 50 pounds (and not subject to California sales tax) there really is no better litter.

Note: I was mainly reading your review because I am out of chick feed and can only make it to the pet store today.

I tried World’s Best and found that the odor control and odd smell of the litter itself was not for me. Then I found Exquisicat Pine and Corn Litter at Petsmart. It’s the best of both world! A bit expensive, but great!

your comments were very constant with other users. Don’t confuse Yesterdays News conventional Litter with clumping litters. It is meant to be used 2 weeks, no scooping, then thrown away. Same as for Feline Pine pellets. Biggest problem with pellets is that many cats won’t walk on them. They have to be “trained” by applying othe rlitter on top of the pellets.
The silica dust has always been an issue but since approx 90% of all litters are clay and over 70% are scoopable, the dust issue is more myth then reality.
Everyone has a different reason to us ea cat litter from cost, convenience, fragrance, no scent, odorless (none are 100%) to marketing hype. And they all are valid reasons.
Good luck with your research

http://www.thedailytail.com Daniela Caride

Hi Ed, thanks for your comment. Yeah, I couldn’t get used to the pellet system – my cats either. But I don’t think the silica dust is a myth. Two of our litter boxes are in close proximity to our daily living space, and it was always horrible to face that cloud of dust, especially because of its scent. I can’t deny, though, that the clay litters do clump very well, but I’m not wiling to risk our health for that, and WBCL clumps very well anyway. World’s Best is quite expensive, so I recently read that instead of corn litter, people who are on a budget should try unmedicated chicken feed. I never tried it myself but will as soon as I get a hold of a bag.

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Interesting, Meowbear. Is it on the expensive side? I’ll definitely try it! Thanks for the tip!

Anonymous

Dani,it seems we have the same problem,with our 9 cats so far the only thing that works is something like Fresh Step,Scoop Away any one of those brands.Don’t ever try Cats Pride it is horrible. It very light weight but even after one of my cats urinate it not only does it smell like cat pee but it smells like an cat pee from a cat that wasn’t fixed,ugh horrible. Honestly i can’t afford worlds best,i know it works and i would love to use it,but it is just to expensive. If on your journey you run across something that is as good as Worlds Best or even a close second please let us know! Thanks :)

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

I will, Laura. I keep testing cat litter, but it’s hard. When you don’t have smell, you have tracking problems or price. There’s no perfect product I guess. But hopefully the industry will progress, or WBCL will reduce its price because they figure out something in their production that can make it more affordable. I’ll keep you posted on any new finds. :-)

Anonymous

Thanks Dani i would appreciate that! Have a great day! :)

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

You too. :-)

Cindy

What a great article. Thank you so much for the insights. We tried World’s Best, but the smell of the product out of the bag was over powering. My mom and daughter couldnt breathe and I suspect they were having allergic reaction so I got rid of it less than a day after buying it. Do you know of any thing less allergenic than WBCL?

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Hi Cindy, thanks! I am now testing a new litter system – the Breeze Litter System from Purina. Itá a green plastic box that you equip with clay pellets and an absorbent pad. Since the clay is compressed into pellets, it produces no clouds or odors. The pads absorb the pee, and change it once a week. Then you scoop the poop from the pellets and change them once a month. So far, I kinda like it, even though it’s not perfect. It smells a bit, but there’s zero tracking and dust clouds. It’s not inexpensive, though, since you have to replace the pads and litter – you can buy them at PETCO or PetSmart. Let me know if you’ll try it. Maybe I can give you more info. :-)

liz

i use swheat scoop and i’m gone all day and urine does stick to the bottom slightly but it is extremely easy to remove and is no extra trouble at all. the only reason i can imagine it being so stuck to the botton that you had as hard of a time removing it as you said is if you let you’re cats waste sit in the litter box for close to 48 hours, which im guessing contributes to the smell. thanks for the article and opinion but for others i would recommend swheat scoop anyday for easy cat care.

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Thanks for your feedback, Liz. It actually didn’t take me that long to scoop. I’m now testing pellet litter and CatGenie.

Linda

I think mine sticks to the bottom because ammonia softens plastic. And since all litter boxes are plastic…

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Yep… In my experience, World’s Best didn’t let the pee get that far, so it clumped it all and didn’t leave residues on the bottom. Much easier to clean up…

Megan

Have you tried the green tea leaves for litter? The brand is Next Gen, if it works, it would eliminate the whole problem with wheat/corn. I haven’t tried it yet, but really interested.

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

I haven’t, Megan. I want to do it at some point. I’ve been testing pellet litters lately. Will get there! :-)

MK

Right now I’m trying the Forest Fresh wood pellets from the same company, and I like it a lot. It clumps nicely and smells fantastic, and most of my cats are willing to use it. We have 7 cats though, and since it’s not available locally and the walnut litter we’ve been using is, I may not stick with it. The main reason I’ve been looking for alternatives to the clumping walnut litter is that it tracks excessively. (Blue Buffalo reps will tell you it doesn’t track at all. This is a lie.)

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Very interesting, MK. Did you know the litter is made of a type of wood only found in Japan? I assume, then, that they import wood from really far away just to produce this litter….

J Willis

Found this article searching for ways to prevent litter tracking(I’m stuck with clay litter for reasons that are too long to get into). You might want to clarify that you tried the lame clumping version of Feline Pine instead of the pellet version. The pellet version(and it’s generic Trader Joe’s equivalent) is amazing though it also has it’s downsides. The pellets just break down to dust, which, admittedly can get soggy if you’re not up on it. But, it is BY FAR, the least tracking litter I have ever used, including Fresh Step(crazy tracking but great clumping) and Swheat Scoop(solid clumping but dust tracking). Cheers!

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Thanks, J Willis. I’ve been testing pellets for a few months now (never did that before), and yes, they are so great and preventing heavy tracking. Very nice. I am especially fond of the Feline Pine pellets because I have a special litter box for it, with two pans, so I can just get rid of the pellets that break into dust at the lower pan. I totally recommend it. http://www.felinepinelitterbox.com/

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Hi Sarah, I’ve been testing the Breeze system for almost a year now. It’s quite good in terms of cleanliness because the tracking is minimal and keeps the odor at a minimum too. I, however, do not recommend it because the pellets are made of clay and they do release a thin powder when we touch. Cats get that powder on their paws when they walk on it, and they ingest it when they clean themselves.

Clay is toxic when breathed and ingested. Of course it’s not as toxic as the regular clay litters that leave a cloud of dust whenever they are touched, but it still produces a thin cloud when I pour a new bag of pellets into the box. Not good for everyone’s heath at home.

lunatech

Hi Daniella,

Thank you for the article. I did want to clarify though that Breeze does not use clay. The pellets are made from a volcanic rock called zeolite. Is used for purifying water and some people take it as a detox – though research supporting that use is not well established.

I love my breeze box. We have two cats and I’ve tried a number of different litters. The breeze is great as long as they don’t have diarrhea. I also wish there was a way to deodorize the top tray. For now I’ve been sprinkling a light layer of traditional litter.

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Hi Lunatech, thank you for pointing that out. I have corrected the article, but I am sorry to report that, as clay, zeolite is also cancerous, therefore dangerous to people’s and pets’ health when used as litter. The activity of mining zeolite has generated cancer in many workers who breathed the zeolite dust. According to research studies that have been conducted to analyze the safety of zeolite in several applications, exposure to zeolite dust isn’t safe.

A study conducted by McDonald and McDonald in 1980 indicated that some 25 to 33 percent of all cases of mesothelioma cancer have no connection whatsoever to asbestos exposure. However, studies have been made that zero in on some other specific causes. One of those is exposure to zeolite.

What is Zeolite?

Known in scientific terms as hydrated alkali aluminum silicate, zeolites are a group of minerals that contain mostly hydrated aluminum and silicon compounds. Their common names are Clinoptilolite, Erionite, Phillipsite, andMordenite. They are found in volcanic rock and ashes and sometimes used as additives in animal feeds. Because of their porous structure, zeolites may be used as absorbents, desiccants, detergents, and as water and air purifiers.

Zeolites have enjoyed some use in the health field as well including as dietary supplements for hangovers and an adjuvant therapy for various types of cancer. (These are not FDA-approved treatments.) However, there is a lack of data supporting zeolite’s efficacy and there is no conclusion as to whether zeolites are safe, as the mineral’s systemic effects on the body are not totally clear at this point without more research.

The Link to Mesothelioma

What is clear, however, is that exposure to zeolite dust is associated with an increased risk for developing malignant mesothelioma. Simply put, zeolites are carcinogenic when inhaled. As a matter of fact, the International Agency for Research on Cancer lists zeolite as a Group 1 Carcinogen, a categorization used when there is sufficient evidence of mesothelioma carcinogenity in humans.

Erionite, a form of zeolite fibers, has been definitively linked to a mesothelioma epidemic in the villages of the Anatolian Plateau in Turkey. In these villages, the local volcanic tuff was filled with toxic zeolite fibers. A report on the epidemic was published in the March 15, 2006 issue of The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Doctors in Turkey embarked on a 23-year study that followed 891 men and women who lived in three different Turkish villages in the Cappadocia region. In two of the villages, the residents were exposed to erionite. The third was used as a control. During the study, which stretched from 1979 until 2003, 372 individuals died. Of all those who passed away, 119 were stricken with mesothelioma cancer and died as a result of the disease or complications of the disease. In the two villages where residents were exposed to the toxic mineral, the pleural mesothelioma death rate was 44.5 percent. There were only 2 deaths from mesothelioma in the control village and both of those individuals were born outside of that control village.

Those who analyzed the data, including Harvard professor Philippe Grandjean, M.D., Ph.D., determined the incidence of mesothelioma in the two erionite-laden villages to be 200 and 700 per 100,000 people annually. In the control village, there were only 10 cases per 100,000 individuals. Hence, the conclusion was that long-term erionite exposure was responsible for the very high incidence of asbestos cancer in certain Cappadocian villages on the Anatolian Plateau.

After the study was complete, the authors suggested that local officials concentrate on ways to prevent environmental exposure to these dangerous zeolite fibers in the hopes of lowering residents’ risk for developing mesothelioma disease.

In the United States, natural deposits of erionite have been located in a handful of western states, particularly Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. A report on ereonite/zeolite in the U.S. (Rom, W. N., K. R. Casey, W. T. Parry, C. H. Mjaatvedt and F. Moatamed. 1983. Health implications of natural fibrous zeolites for the Intermountain West. Environ Res 30(1): 1-8) notes that residents of what is considered the “intermountain West” may be exposed to fibrous zeolite in ambient air and, hence, susceptible to the development of mesothelioma. North Dakota is currently conducting a study relating to erionite exposure among residents of that vast mountainous state.

I have been using Wheat Scoop for approx. 9 months now and have a Devon Rex cat that’s of course indoors only. I had been cleaning the box every day and if I wait 2 days you can already smell the ammonia from the already broken down urea(urine). I don’t replace the whole box at a time, simply the wasted litter and often top it up. I assume that your cats are outdoor, thus you change the box no sooner than every week. My little guy is still young(11 months), so he’s eating a lot and defecating just as much. I feed him a Canadian made kibble that is carb free and quiet expensive, but am considering on using “raw” at some time, for dry kibble has to contain some fairly powerful preservatives in order to stay fresh…food does not keep long in nature without preservatives. The terrible thing about preservatives is that they are toxins, for if they kill bacteria, they are not good for us or our little pets. I will try the world’s best cat litter and see if they are better than wheat scoop or not…I just hope it’s as flushable, for I have loved this feature with wheat scoop.

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Hi Seadrive. My cats is all indoors, and I scooped every day and changed the whole box weekly. I really disliked Swheat Scoop. I follow the same routine with World’s Besta nd have no odor whatsoever. WBCL is flushable. Check out this link: http://www.worldsbestcatlitter.co.uk/flushable.html

DJ

Seriously, you need to change the litter and wash the box every two weeks at the most. Of course you smell pee after a few weeks because it has been weeks.

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Hi DJ, I change it every week.

Rosemary

Wow! Thank you for all your work! And thank your cats as well. We are currently using Petsmarts wheat litter and Swheat Scoop but I am always looking for something better. My 4 cats approve but they may get to do some of their own research soon. I still use clay for baby kittens. Thanks again.

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Hey Rosemary, thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment! Yeah, so far I still like World’s Best better, but finding the right product also depends on each cat, their habits, their paw sensitivity. :-)

claire

We were using the Worlds Best unscented with great results for cats & humans (I am resigned to litter tracking). But here’s the problem with corn ( & undoubtedly any grain-based product): it attracts rodents. Big time. We had to put the large bags in an infrequently used storage area because the cats were occasionally chewing on the plastic-like packaging. I was at first mystified by chew marks on the bags & then quite taken aback when the reason(s) for that became apparent. Beware! .

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Oh yeah, Claire, I hear you. We moved to the countryside a year ago, so now we have mice, which we never had. I lock everything inside hard plastic containers. So far I was able to avoid feeding the critters. Thank you for the reminder! :-)

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=530401628 Layla Morgan Wilde

We love Worlds Best Cat Litter.

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Hey Layla! Yeah, no litter seems to be perfect, but World’s Best has been a good choice for our family.

BlueT

Please don’t flush cat litter, a simple Google search will tell you how bad it is for certain ocean life! No matter what kind of litter you use.

Linda

Would like to see your rating of Scoop Away Complete Performance, a new variation of Scoop Away. And yes, it is clay.

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Hi Linda, we don’t review/use clay litter any longer because of the health issues it can cause. Let me know if there’s any non-clay litter brands you’d like to test. Have a great Sunday!

Daniel Lane

Hi Daniela. I have been searching like crazy for the best cat box/litter solution for my daughter’s 2 cats. She currently has two (old) hooded boxes, and uses cheap store brand clay litter. It’s the worst, and something has to change. I don’t want to simply get new basic litter boxes, though that in and of itself would be an improvement. In this article towards the end you said “We are now back to using World’s Best and Feline Pine pellets on an All Pine Self-Cleaning litter box.” Can you please explain this? Are you using both litter products simultaneously with this litter box? How so? Thanks!

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Hi Daniel, thanks for reading the article and for your concern with the kitties. :-)

Let me explain. (Sorry I wasn’t clear!) One of my cats, Gaijin, hates everyone. So she lives in half of the house, and the other three cats live in the other half. That means she has her own litter box, and that is the feline pine pellets with the special litter box that sifts the crumbled wood. She is very tidy, so she has only one box.

At this moment, the other three cats have 1 litter box with World’s Best Cat Litter (lavender scent) and one Cat Genie litter system, which I am still to review. The CatGenie is hooked up to the water supply. It has its good and bad things, but the best thing is that it made possible for me to go from 4 litter boxes to two. (It is always recommended to have the same number of litter boxes you have cats +1. So if one has 3 cats, like me, one should have 4 litter boxes, so on and so forth.)

I don’t like the hooded boxes because they trap the smells, and meake the litter box damp, dark, and dirty. It does, however, keep more litter inside the litter box (but that is only for human benefit, right?). The best combo for us have been the high walled litter boxes with no hood. There are some on the market, such as Nature’s Miracle, which is the one we have: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12602763&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

You can also make one yourself if you feel like being DIY. At the bottom of the following article, you can see a picture of a litter box Martin and I made out of a plastic container from Target. http://taildom.com/blog/health-tips/my-cats-not-using-the-litter-box/ I do not recommend getting a container with lots of nooks and crannies (we got one with wheels as you can see in the pic. it was great to move around, but the trapped litter just drove us insane after a while.)

Now about the litter… I consider any corn, pine, wheat or leaf-based litter much healthier than any clay litter, and I am willing to put up with any hassles if it means that I and my family won’t breathe any toxic substances. That said, World’s Best has proven to require the least maintenance in terms of cleaning the whole litter box periodically. So if your daughter is not very diligent regarding replacing the entire box and cleaning it, I would definitely go with World’s Best. It does, however track quite a lot, but I just keep a broom beside the litter box and sweep every now and then.

Please let me know if you have any other questions, Daniel. I hope this helps,and I’ll be happy to share more of my experiences if you want me to. :-)

Daniel Lane

Daniela, thank you so much for the quick response! Lots of good information in your response. However, I am not sure I am any closer to a decision. I am OK with spending time (and money) doing a little experimentation with various products, but not too much. Hopefully I can come to an educated decision straight away and that will be that (fingers crossed).

One of the issues is that we are in a two-story house, and currently the cat boxes are in my daughter’s (carpeted) room. She is at the back side of the house, which is generally cooler, but still it can get a bit warm since it’s upstairs. As far as litter trailing outside of the box, there is some, but she takes care of it with vacuuming. I have considered moving the boxes downstairs into the kitchen pantry area (which would also be nice should I decide to go with the Cat Genie system which requires a water source), but not a big fan of that, nor do I want to place the boxes in the attached garage (via Kitty door), which I have considered. Should I decide upon the high-walled, uncovered boxes (as you suggested/use), along with the WBCL, that may work fine, though I am not sure how well the corn-based litter trailing onto/into the carpet would clean up, or if it would work its way too deep into the carpet.

The WBCL is highly expensive (especially compared to the others), and I am just wondering even if my daughter is on her best cat-box-maintenance behavior and scoops 1-2x/day, and changes out the entire litter every 7-10 days, if we will see an exponential increase in cost. I suppose we will, but it wil be totally worth it (I expect/hope) if the constant odor goes away.

In your opinion/experience, the open (uncovered) box is best, but as far as covered boxes go, I was researching/considering the Omega Paw Self Cleaning cat box (http://www.omegapaw.com/products/roll-clean-litter-box.html), as it seems fairly popular, though plenty of reviews on either end of the spectrum, so you can never tell. Thoughts?

Thanks again, Daniela!

BTW, I sent you a friend request on FB and included the same basic question I posted here, thinking that may be the quickest way to get your attention, and not thinking that you would respond here that QUICKLY! You can disregard (or not).

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Hi Daniel,

I think the litter trailing will be pretty much the same as what you see today with clay. If she vacuums, it will be alright.

Clay clumps reeeally well and tends to be awesome at holding smells. So, why are the boxes smelling? Is the litter she uses non-clumping?

As a matter of fact, World’s Best does not require you to change the entire litter box. Ever. Interesting, huh? I talked to the company directors about it, and, really, I couldn’t believe it. But, really, it could go on without an entire change forever as far as I’ve seen it. I do change the entire thing probably every 2-3 months, just because. :-) So, that means the costs might not get that high for you, since you won’t have to buy that much litter. Just refill the existing box over and over. I didn’t have such great results with litter changing with other brands. They require you to change the litter box every week at most. Otherwise the smell can become pretty horrid.

In terms of smell, I think WB holds smell really well. Note that I am only talking about clumping litter, and I have only used the multi-cat (I think it’s the red bag) formula and the lavender (purple) bag.

If she really vacuums a lot, I’d not move it to the laundry room. Corn litter requires lots of vacuuming, and unless you have a ginormous laundry room, you will be stepping on litter every time you go in. Therefore, the vacuuming chore would become your chore.

If you decide to place the boxes in the garage, never ever ever use any corn, wheat or anything that is food. Stick to clay. The rats and mice will get to it if you use such products because they are basically mildly treated crushed corn, wheat, etc. It’s food. You’ll be feeding critters in the neighborhood.

I have tested the Omega Paw self-cleaning litter box, and I hated it. I looove Omega Paw. They make such great products. But this one I think is kind of disgusting. You turn the litter box to clean it – which means basically rolling the poops and pee clumps into a side compartment. So the dirty litter is constantly rolling all over the litter walls and ceiling. That means particles of dirty litter not only underneath, but potentially “raining” on your cats’ heads. Besides, you need to have a quite big area to use it, because you need to roll it to clean it. Did not work for me.

:-)

Daniel Lane

Hi Daniela. The clay litter my daughter uses is just your basic “sandy” clay, and to be honest, I don’t know exactly what the urine deposits in the clay look like, but I don’t think they are clumps, nor would I expect them to be. I think the smell is due to the following factors:

– basic/cheap litter
– old plastic boxes that have been severely etched/eroded by the urine
– hoods on the boxes
– sometimes warm room with low circulation
– boxes probably don’t get scooped often enough :-(

Anyhow, I think I will go with the high-walled boxes (Nature’s Miracle) and the WB (multi-cat), and keep them in daughter’s room. I’m glad you pointed out that WB doesn’t need to be entirely changed out that often (if ever), and so I may follow your example and change out entirely every 2-3 months.

Thanks again, Daniela!

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Sure! I hope you find a more suitable set up for you guys. Of course as you know there is no perfect solution, since we are talking about poops and pees. But the uncovered litter boxes are generally cleaned more often than hooded ones for two reasons: 1 – you can see the poops, and you feel that you need to scoop. 2 – you don’t have to lift the hood, place it somewhere else, then reinstall it, which can be a pain especially when it’s set up in a small room. So without the hood, ventilation improves and it requires less steps to scoop.

T Miskovich

Just thought I’d leave you a note with my experience of worlds best litter. I loved it and so did my cats. Unfortunately- I developed a very unpleasant rash all over my face after I switche to worlds best. It took me 7 months to figure out where the heck my allergic reaction was coming from. My cats sleep on me at night- more specifically on my head, lol and lick and groom me a lot. I quit using worlds best and my reaction went away almost immediately.

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Hi T Miskovich, I’m so sorry to hear that! Fortunately we have not had any allergic reactions with WBCL in all those years. But oh the tracking…. It’s so bad!

Schulz

We have used the Cat genie system for two years. It’s absolutely amazing when it’s running correctly. BUT when anything goes bad (and it does) the cats get upset and won’t use the back up box so we have messes for several days until the appropriate parts are delivered and the machine repaired. I wish there was a better answer.

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Hi Schultz, thanks for your message! We are enjoying our Cat genie as well, but with some restrictions. First I always scoop the poops before running the Cat Genie cleanup because the smell is horrid if the machine doesn’t catch a poop and mistakenly “fries”it when drying the litter after the washing cycle. Also, the litter scatter all over, even after purchasing the higher walls. Oh well, there is no perfect solution I guess. But the Cat Genie seems to be quite good. I haven’t had any technical problems with it so far. :-)

Catmother5803

Has anyone tried or heard about Tidy Cat Lite formula that just came on the market. I don’t know what’s in it, or average price or ANYTHING at this time. But I have many health issues that would make me LOVE to be able to use something this light.

The reviews are bad – people are saying it produces bigger clouds of dust compared with the regular Tidy Cats, and that it tracks more.

Catmother5803

Thanks so much for the info. You just saved me some $$$.

Subject: Re: New comment posted on The best cat litter

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Glad I could help. :-)

Pining and Happy

There is also Tidy Cats Pure Nature that is cedar, pine and corn — seems to have the worst of all worlds though; not so good at clumping and terrible tracking… favorite stat: on Amazon, there are nearly as many 1 star ratings as 5 star. Seems that those used to clay love it and those used to corn OR pine hate it. :)

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Yeah, that’s why I created the table below. So many people have different priorities for what they look for in cat litter. I think that’s why it’s so hard to choose cat litter from websites like Amazon.

TP3

Hi Daniela, I’m on a mission to find a litter that is safe for my cat. I’m curious if you have any concerns about the reports of essential oils (lavender, pine) being toxic to cats. Especially considering that World’s Best scents their litter with lavender oil…

Pining and happy

I recently switched from World’s Best (used for 6 years) to Only Natural Pine Cobble for my two cats — the latter is high heat treated to remove phenols and oils, which I think is the process nowadays for all of the best pine litters. Although the World’s Best clumps better and has better odor control with feces, the tracking was awful and I can only imagine the impact of the highly clumpable stuff when licked off of paws and fur. The cats loved the World’s Best bugs (despite being in a sealed plastic container) but me, not so much.

Since I am home with the kitties, I can and do clean out the feces almost immediately, I have the Omega Rollaway box that well handles the clump disintegration and I greatly appreciate less cleaning up after the tracking and less dust on their fur that left outlines where’er they sat or laid down — Pine is not perfect but it is my favorite now. Thankfully, the cats cooperated and use the pine — that is the first and foremost criterion :)

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Hi Pining and Happy! Thank you so much for your thoughts. Unfortunately 3 of my cats don’t tolerate pine – they just hate the pellets because they are probably too hard on their paws, and the pine sawdust was just too much for us – between the smell and the clumping difficulty, my cats wouldn’t go in the box. The tracking from WBCL, I agree, is severe. I wish there was something we could do about it, but everything I tried – rugs, sweeping more often, etc – didn’t help. But it’s what my cats tolerate, and given the options, I won’t go with clay, so corn it is. :-)

Also, I love Omega as a company and use many of their products. But we did not like the rolling litter box. With the rolling, there was debris in the ceiling of the box, and it just felt to me it was raining debris on the cats every time they stepped in. :-D

The self-cleaning litter box I mentioned on the Feline Pine section has been the best option for us so far. :-)

Pining and Happy

Thanks for the response, Daniela. As it happens, the pine dust is so substantial that it heavily coats the sides of the box and thus the kitties :0 which is just too distressing to my gang of two (they holler after the assault so I know when it happens). I can swiffer it away (on the box, not the kits :) ), so I now have to monitor and weigh that against all of the extra apartment vacuuming, plus mini-vac and lint roller work on the bed, to manage the WCBL tracking. The jury is still out. :)

Would that I had trained them to use the toilet, but those solutions scare me as I imagine them slipping in now and then, plus one of my kitties might flush the other if it happened. :)

The Omega Rollaway box used to get debris on top when I flipped the unfiltered stuff into the scooper before rolling all the way to the right first — so I solved that issue in our case. However, in the event that someone has loose stools, that can make a mess of the filter and that clean up is an awful task! I think that much as it is the case with litter, litter boxes are also about choosing the lesser offensive to the individuals involved…

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

I totally agree. Litter boxes are per se a nasty business. It’s a bathroom, and bathrooms are not my favorite place of the house when it comes to cleaning. But we gotta do it, right? :-)

I think sometimes that it would be easier if my cats went outside in terms of litter box. But cats who go outside generally don’t get to be even 5 years old (are injured by predators or cars before that), and all the peeing in my garden would be bad for the plants. Also I would not do this to the birds, frogs and salamanders, the snakes and chipmunks that come visit the surroundings. Such beautiful wildlife outside that my cats would chase and probably kill… I end up cleaning the litter box and (almost) enjoying my task. :-)

Pining and Happy

Yes, in fact, mine are adopted and the rescue org makes you sign to the effect that you will not let them outdoors — and they often die or worse in the most horrifying ways outside.

I have found that it is true that if cats eat whole (not to be confused with live) prey, the stool does not smell anywhere near as strong and is consistently firm — I have two sisters, one of whom eats it and the other that does not [anymore] with which to make that comparison. I know this discussion appears to be a digression, but it is just the front end of the matter. :)

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Well, it’s a very interesting subject anyways. :-) I feed my cats a canned food that is only tuna and chicken, with added vitamins. No grains, no nothing. Their fur looks much better, and they less stomach problems than ever before.

I’m not sure if she’s right or not, but it does make sense. Even the tea tree oil, which is so used as an example when talking about essential oils and cats, is very toxic to humans if not diluted. She uses WBCL lavender mixed with the unscented one.

Wishfish

My 3 dogs ate some corn based litter that I had left outside (with the feces removed ) to use on my plants. Two of the dogs developed severe diarrhea, vomitting and shaking and the third dog went into horrible seizures and almost died. He had to be hospitalized for three days. The corn based litter had developed mycotoxins which are very toxic and can be lethal. The companies should have bittering agents because the corn litter smells and tastes good to the dogs. There should also be warnings on the label. I would never risk using a corn or wheat litter again. Feline Pine works great with the Breeze box, and the Cats Pride 100% recycled paper is fantastic

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Oh my goodness, Wishfish, what a horrible experience! I’m so sorry to hear that you and your dogs had to go through such scary experience…

Paradoxlanding

So is every litter basically posionous?

Clay has bentonite and dust.
Wheat and corn have aflotoxins and paper is usually recycled materials like newspaper which when wet releases ink and also has the chance to produce aflotoxins. WTF AMERICA?

http://www.taildom.com/ Daniela Caride

Ha! Good question, Paradox! The problem is that we humans create all those derivative products and we know little about their toxicity.

But, aflatoxins are not a derivative of chemical products. It’s a natural occurrence in life, like mold, and only appear if the box is not properly maintained for a loooong time. In life, we have to maintain everything — our home, garden, plants, anything that is alive and organic, right? So just good hygiene methods will keep a corn-based litter free of aflatoxins.

Corn is a food and should not be let wet for too long. Scooping every day is more than enough to keep it clean. Some people don’t scoop for weeks, the litter is overflowing of pooops and pees, and the poor cat needs to go in. Disgusting stuff. And then the cat gets sick. It’s like never cleaning our own bathrooms. Eventually we’d get sick too.